6of 7OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 14: Josh Reddick #22, Tony Kemp #18 and Max Stassi #12 of the Houston Astros sit in the dugout prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on June 14, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Astros defeated the Athletics 7-3. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)Photo: Michael Zagaris / Getty Images

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Time for a history quiz: When was the last time the A’s played a series as important as the one they will play this weekend at the Coliseum?

Hint: The A’s were dithering about the Howard Terminal site, the commissioner of baseball said the team needed a new venue and the A’s unhappily agreed to continue playing at the Coliseum. Back then, it was called O.co.

So, you see, some things do change.

That series was in late August 2014, when the A’s traveled to Anaheim and were just one game behind the first-place Angels in the American League West. That season was the last time the A’s were anywhere close to first place at a serious point in the year.

Until now. This weekend, the A’s host three games against the reigning World Series champion Houston Astros. The A’s are just two games back and could be in first place in the division by late Saturday afternoon.

This should be exciting. Compelling. And, most important, something to build on.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ON. All caps just for you, owner John Fisher, wherever you are hiding.

What has happened to this team in the four years between August 2014 and August 2018 is a disgrace. That A’s team was on its way to the playoffs for the third straight season and the roster was rich with young talent. That team wasn’t packing the Coliseum, but it was 24th in home attendance, drawing an average of about 7,000 more fans per home game than this season, and had been trending steadily upward.

And then everything was blown up, purely for cost-saving, revenue-sharing-pocketing reasons. For three years, the A’s faded into irrelevance. The fans became more disenfranchised. The stadium issue remained unsolved. And Fisher, the owner of the team, did not once stand up and take responsibility or even provide a public statement of any kind.

Now, thanks to the creativeness of the front office, the skill of the manager and the sheer will of the players, the A’s find themselves once again the most exciting team in baseball.

To reiterate, this is something to build on.

It took 25-year-old third baseman Matt Chapman — who was with the Beloit Snappers the last time the A’s played such an important series — to put everything in perspective.

Chapman’s plea on Monday night resonated: “I just want to use this time to encourage people in Oakland to come out, man. All the fans and support we can get, we can really appreciate it. Tonight, we’re fighting until the very end against the Mariners and I just wish we can get some people out here, man.

“We’re fun to watch. We really want our fans to come out and support us. It’d be great.”

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Chapman’s statement — 69 more words than the owner of the team has spoken to the fans — is 100 percent accurate.

It should be interpreted not merely as a plea to fans but as a plea to the invisible owner. Build on this. Create momentum. Don’t repeat the past.

How to accomplish that?

Sign Bob Melvin to a long-term deal. The man already has won the Manager of the Year award in an Athletics uniform once, has a real shot to win it again, is rock-solid, widely respected and everything you could want. Yet the A’s keep him hanging — he is signed only through next season and was denied the chance to speak to the Yankees in November. When he gets that award again at the end of the season, if he doesn’t have a contract extension, it’s going to be a bad look.

Sign Khris Davis. The designated hitter is operating on a one-year deal. Sign him to a multiyear pact. Davis is third in the majors in home runs (34) this season. Do it now — this weekend. Sell Davis jerseys in the stands. Tell the fans he’s going to be launching long balls for the A’s for a long time.

Sign Jed Lowrie and Jonathan Lucroy. Those men, who are a big part of the team’s success this year, have bounced around enough. Give them a home. Tell them they are part of the process of grooming the young talent.

Get long-term deals with the younger players. It will be harder, but try to work out deals with some of the promising players, like Chapman, Matt Olson and Sean Manaea. Their agents want them to get on the free-agent market as soon as possible. But try. Let the fans know you’re trying.

And — duh — get a stadium plan in order. Now. Real. Tangible. The A’s have been trying to get out of the Coliseum for two decades and the fans simply have no more patience. All the words and plans are just blah-blah-blah. Do something.

Back in 2014, that last most important series didn’t go very well. The A’s lost all four games and continued to slide during the final month of the season. They were destined for the wild-card game, which ended badly: Jon Lester blew up against Kansas City and the brief bright era for the A’s was over.

But the decline had started earlier, with the midseason trades of Addison Russell (to the Cubs) and Yoenis Céspedes (to the Red Sox for Lester). What followed was the cruelest cut of all: the November trade of Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays. Fans who had invested in jerseys for their favorites were screwed. Any trust that had been built was broken.

That shouldn’t be allowed to happen again. This, right now, is something to build on.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, Ann Killion has covered Bay Area sports for more than two decades. An award-winning columnist and a veteran of 11 Olympics, several World Cups and the Tour de France, Ann joined The Chronicle in 2012. Ann has worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. She is a New York Times best-selling author, having co-written "Solo: A Memoir of Hope" with soccer star Hope Solo,"Throw Like A Girl" with softball player Jennie Finch and two middle-grade books on soccer, “Champions of Women’s Soccer” and “Champions of Men’s Soccer.” She was named California Sportswriter of the Year in both 2014 and 2017. She has two children and lives in Mill Valley.